It's Wednesday. A cost-saving proposal to shutter several schools has roiled Oakland. Plus, the rampaging pigs of the Bay Area. |
 | | The Oakland Unified School District, where students and teachers walked out of Westlake Middle School in protest on Tuesday, is currently proposing the closure, merger or downsizing of 16 schools. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle |
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What is typically a dull affair, a weeknight meeting of a school board, was anything but on Monday night. |
More than 1,800 people swarmed the Oakland Unified School District's virtual board meeting to voice anger and disappointment with a plan to close, merge or downsize 16 of the district's 80 schools. The meeting, which began at 6 p.m., drew so many public commenters that it did not conclude until 3 a.m. |
"I'm supposed to be asleep right now, but I'm here to fight for our schools," said a fourth grader who attends a school on the chopping block. |
Opponents say the changes would increase class sizes, lead to layoffs, worsen the quality of education and force families to travel farther to get to school. They are particularly upset that the plan was announced during the Omicron surge, with relatively little warning. |
The list of schools being considered did not become public until late last week, and the board is slated to vote on the measure on Feb. 8. If approved, most of the closures would happen before this fall. |
"I literally begged for you not to try to do this, especially during a pandemic," Mike Hutchinson, a board member who opposes the closures, said during Monday's meeting. "How could anyone in good conscience threaten anyone with closing our schools in a 10-day process when you know our communities are suffering?" |
District officials, however, say they have few options. |
 | | Oakland Unified School District's virtual board meeting on Monday.NBC Bay Area |
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Enrollment in Oakland Unified has declined by more than 15,000 over the past 20 years because of falling birthrates, the pandemic and the proliferation of charter schools, according to district data. |
The drop in students has resulted in an annual $150 million reduction in state funding for the district, which currently has a yearly budget of about $700 million, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. |
For the upcoming fiscal year, the district is facing a $12.3 million deficit on top of $3.2 billion in needed repairs at school facilities, according to data presented at the meeting. |
Which brings us to the school closure plan. |
District officials say they could save between $4.1 million and $14.7 million by combining schools that are underenrolled, allowing them to cut back on staff and overhead costs. Twenty-six of the district's schools have so few students that they're considered fiscally unsustainable by the district. |
Oakland Unified has 80 schools for its 35,000 students, while the similarly sized Fontana and Fremont school districts have about 40 schools, according to district data. |
Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell acknowledged that the closures would disproportionately affect Black students, who make up 22 percent of the district overall but 36 percent of students affected by the closures, according to district data. |
"This is not easy for me to present this information, especially knowing that African American students and families will be the most affected by these recommendations," Johnson-Trammell said, as reported by The East Bay Times. "At the same time, we must be just as honest about the challenges we're facing as a school district." |
The latest on Omicron and the pandemic |
 | | Assemblywoman Autumn Burke announced on Tuesday that she was resigning.Rich Pedroncelli/File, via Associated Press |
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- State politics: With the resignation of Autumn Burke, a Democrat from Inglewood, the California Assembly has five vacancies, The Associated Press reports.
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- School threat: U.C.L.A. held classes online on Tuesday after threats of violence were sent to some students and staff members. A suspect has since been taken into custody, CNN reports.
- Mel Mermelstein: The Auschwitz survivor who successfully sued Holocaust deniers died on Friday at his home in Long Beach.
- Hate crime rise: Los Angeles recorded the most hate crimes among large U.S. cities last year, posting a 71 percent jump in the incidents, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Fraud ring: A Los Angeles man was sentenced for bank fraud and identity theft after leading the wrongful purchase of more than a half-million dollars' worth of luxury goods, The Associated Press reports.
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- Electric cars: A neglected Central Valley outpost reinvents itself with electric cars — and plots a road map for the nation, The Los Angeles Times reports.
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 | | David Malosh for The New York Times |
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 | | Elizabeth D. Herman for The New York Times |
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Today's travel tip comes from Beverly Pachner, who lives in Oakland: |
"There is no better place in the Bay Area to explore plants from all over the world than the University of California Botanical Garden. Located on 34 acres in Strawberry Canyon, its diverse collection includes over 10,000 plants from nearly every continent. While many are rare or endangered specimens, native plants are also well represented. Although every path is worth following, my favorite places are the South African hillside, the Deserts of the Americas collection, the Japanese pool and the Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden. Meandering through this amazing garden is a good way to take a trip around the globe without leaving California." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
With Valentine's Day coming up, we're asking about love: not who you love, but what you love about your corner of California. |
Email us a love letter to your California city, neighborhood or region — or to the Golden State as a whole — and we may share it in an upcoming newsletter. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
And before you go, some good news |
In late January, Erik Braverman and Jonathan Cottrell said "I do" on the pitcher's mound at Dodger Stadium. |
The men knew their wedding would mean a lot to not just their 75 guests, but also to countless others who have witnessed members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community struggle to find acceptance in professional baseball and other sports. |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
Jonah Candelario, Briana Scalia and Mariel Wamsley contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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